Dez Bryant: New Contract "Not Going to Change the Way I Play"

Bryant signed a five-year, $70 million deal on July 15

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Dallas Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant insists his brand new, five-year, $70 million deal will not change the way he plays.

“That deal don’t make me,” Bryant said, per the Dallas Morning News. “It don’t make me. I play this game because I love this game. I don’t give a damn about none of that. It’s not going to change the way I play. It’s not going to change the way I act. I’m here. Like, ‘Thank you, I can go buy me a home and now I’m able to take care of my family.’ Yeah, I love that, but as far as me performing on the field, like, I take full pride in that.”

Bryant’s love for the game, which is abundantly apparent to anyone who watches him play, made it hard to believe he’d go through with his threat to miss training camp and regular season games if a long-term deal wasn’t done by the July 15 deadline. But Bryant says, yeah, that was the plan, and he intended to see it through if things hadn’t worked out the way they did.

“I stood by that,” Bryant said. “It would’ve killed me, but I (would’ve) stood by it. I had to.”

Bryant is entering his sixth season in the NFL, and coming off the best year of his career, with 88 catches, 1,320 yards and 16 touchdowns. He won First-Team All-Pro honors for the first time in his career, and was named to the Pro Bowl for the second straight year.